Automobile wind deflectors have customarily employed an air deflecting blade mounted on the automobile body by a pair of brackets or supports. The connection between the blade and its supports has heretofore involved the use of simple screws passing through holes in the blade and threaded into a tap hole in the support or an arrangement similar to that shown and described in applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,603, issued Mar. 26, 1974. In the conventional wind deflector, the heads of the screws are accessible from the outer surface of the blade and are clearly visible after assembly of the blade onto the vehicle. From the automobile styling standpoint this method of attachment of the support to the blade has a number of drawbacks. The fastener head interrupts the smooth contour of the outer surface of the blade and presents an undesirable interruption in the blade surface. Furthermore, it is difficult to obtain a fastener which will properly match in color or texture the outer surface of the blade, particularly if the blade is to be painted to match the automobile body color. A screwdriver or other fastener driving tool will damage any paint which is applied to the fastener head. This necessitates touching up the fastener head after the blade is installed on its support, a procedure which automobile dealers and their users find to be highly undesirable.
Although applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,603 has improved wind deflector blade construction from the standpoint that the outer surface of the assembly is uninterrupted by fasteners or fastener receiving openings, the assembly operation is somewhat time consuming due to the novel interference or friction fit being provided between a support flange and the wall of a slot to prevent movement of the blade longitudinally in a slot, wherein said slots were on the inner surface of the wind deflector blade. Also, the blade in most instances must be mounted to the supports prior to mounting the supports to the vehicle and can be a difficult procedure in some instances.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automobile wind deflector assembly in which the support is on the inner surface of the blade and in which the outer surface of the blade is uninterrupted by fasteners or fastener receiving openings, but also provides ease in construction and ease in alignment to assemble the wind deflector blade onto the car in a proper position, both aesthetically and functionally. It is another object of the invention to have all fasteners obscured from view to provide an aesthetically appealing appearance to the wind deflector blade when mounted on the car. All these advantages are also to be included with the advantage of permitting the deflector blade to be any length and allowing for a great deal of flexibility in design, such as the curvature at the ends and various different cross sections and contours for the wind deflector blade. All the above advantages are also provided with a design lending itself to low cost stampings for mounting brackets and other low cost features.